Libya: Tripoli’s Mitiga Airport Reopens

Libya has reopened the only functioning airport in the capital Tripoli again after rockets fired in its direction forced a brief closure, officials said, days after flights had resumed following an earlier shutdown.

Matiga airport, a former air base used for commercial flights since the main international airport was destroyed in 2014 by militia fighting, said in a notice that traffic was resuming.

It has closed and opened several times since a flare-up in violence in late August.

Mitiga airport was shut down on August 3, 2018, and reopened 7th September, then closed again on 12th September 2018, following rocket launches.

The most recent reopening was announced last Wednesday, and flights resumed this weekend.

The Mitiga airport is located off Libya’s northwestern coast, eight kilometers from Tripoli’s Martyrs’ Square, and is the capital’s only remaining working airport.

Rival armed groups based in and outside the city have fought over territory and resources in the OPEC oil producer since the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
– Hauwa Mustapha